Building comparison
head to head
Contra III: The Alien WarsvsSuper Mario World
Contra III: The Alien Wars asks more than Super Mario World, and the gap is execution.
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Peak 16-bit run-and-gun of set-piece bosses and razor-thin dodges.
Super Mario World
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Precise jump execution across fixed levels with secrets to memorise.
Contra III: The Alien Wars leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Super Mario World leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Contra III: The Alien WarsSuper Mario World
Axis by axis
Execution9 vs 7
Contra III: The Alien Wars leans clearly harder on execution.
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Relentless bosses and bullet dodging
Super Mario World
Perfect inputs trivialise every jump, spin and cape flight
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Set-piece bosses are pure scripts
Super Mario World
Scripted Koopas adapt to nothing
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Everything is fixed and learnable
Super Mario World
Levels are fixed; nothing hidden survives one playthrough
Optimization6 vs 4
Contra III: The Alien Wars leans clearly harder on optimization.
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Weapon management and pattern memorization
Super Mario World
Secret exits and route knowledge add a modest solvable layer
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.