head to head
vs
Contra 4vsCuphead
Contra 4 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Cuphead leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Contra 4Cuphead
Axis by axis
Execution9 vs 9
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 1
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization5 vs 6
Cuphead leans harder on optimization: Loadouts and boss phase order are fully learnable.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.