head to head

Colin McRae: Dirt cover artvsSSX cover art

Colin McRae: DirtvsSSX

Colin McRae: Dirt leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); SSX leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).

EXECUTION8 /10READS1 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION4 /10
Colin McRae: DirtSSX

Axis by axis

Execution8 vs 8

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads1 vs 1

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance2 vs 1

Colin McRae: Dirt leans harder on variance: Surface grip and damage add mild run noise

Optimization4 vs 5

SSX leans harder on optimization: Optimal trick lines and shortcut routing maximise score

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Colin McRae: Dirt

full breakdown

SSX