head to head
vs
Contra III: The Alien WarsvsRaiden V
Contra III: The Alien Wars leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Raiden V leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Contra III: The Alien WarsRaiden V
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 2
Raiden V leans harder on variance: Patterns are memorizable, little true randomness
Optimization6 vs 5
Contra III: The Alien Wars leans harder on optimization: Weapon management and pattern memorization
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.