Building comparison
head to head
Crash BandicootvsSuper Mario Bros.
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
Crash Bandicoot
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Precision 3D platformer of narrow corridors, crates, and unforgiving jumps.
Super Mario Bros.
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Pure jump timing over fully fixed, memorisable levels.
Crash Bandicoot leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Super Mario Bros. leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Crash BandicootSuper Mario Bros.
Axis by axis
Execution8 vs 8
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Crash Bandicoot
Tight jumps on narrow paths punish slop
Super Mario Bros.
Perfect inputs trivialise momentum jumps over fixed hazards
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Crash Bandicoot
Hazards are fixed patterns
Super Mario Bros.
Goombas walk left forever - nothing to predict
Variance1 vs 0
Crash Bandicoot leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Crash Bandicoot
Everything scripted and placed
Super Mario Bros.
Every level is identical on every run
Optimization5 vs 5
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Crash Bandicoot
Box routes and gem requirements are learnable
Super Mario Bros.
Level memorisation and warp routing are fully solvable
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.