head to head
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.

Execution · Practiced Mastery
Time-hopping Crash entry where relic time trials add a routing layer.

Execution · Pure Mechanics
Arcade run-and-gun whose one-credit clears demand total spawn memorization and twitch.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Metal Slug 3 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Metal Slug 3 leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped
Precise platforming plus time-trial mastery
Metal Slug 3
one-hit deaths demand frame-level dodging and aim
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped
All hazards scripted
Metal Slug 3
every enemy wave is scripted
Metal Slug 3 leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped
Fixed level layouts
Metal Slug 3
branching paths vary runs slightly
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped
Relic time-trial routing rewards optimization
Metal Slug 3
memorizing spawns is the path to a one-credit clear
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.