head to head
vs
Donkey Kong Country ReturnsvsDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Donkey Kong Country Returns leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Donkey Kong Country ReturnsDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Axis by axis
Execution8 vs 8
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 1
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze leans harder on reads: Scripted enemies
Variance1 vs 1
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization5 vs 4
Donkey Kong Country Returns leans harder on optimization: KONG letters and time attack routes are learnable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.