head to head
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.

Execution · Practiced Mastery
The third SNES Country game sends Dixie and Kiddy across a gadget-filled northern wilderness.

Execution · Practiced Mastery
Simon Belmont's SNES remake-quest with a multidirectional whip and a moody trek to Dracula.
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Super Castlevania IV leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Tight gimmick stages and barrel timing punish sloppiness
Super Castlevania IV
Eight-way whip control and stair commitment test precision
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Everything follows fixed patterns
Super Castlevania IV
Classic scripted monster patterns
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Bonus barrels hidden but static
Super Castlevania IV
Hidden wall meat, fixed locations
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
DK coins, banana birds, and 103% routing
Super Castlevania IV
Subweapon choice and boss pattern study
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.
full breakdown
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! →
full breakdown
Super Castlevania IV →