Building comparison
head to head
Donkey Kong JuniorvsNew Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is optimization, and it is a single point.
Donkey Kong Junior
Execution · Pure Mechanics
An early arcade climber demanding tight, repeatable jump execution.
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Execution · Pure Mechanics
A classic 2D Mario platformer rewarding tight jump execution above all.
Donkey Kong Junior leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Donkey Kong JuniorNew Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
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.
Donkey Kong Junior
precise vine-climbing and jump timing
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
precise jump and platforming execution
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Donkey Kong Junior
enemies follow fixed patrol patterns
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
fixed enemy patterns, no adaptation
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Donkey Kong Junior
minor enemy timing variance
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
minor enemy placement randomness
Optimization2 vs 3
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Donkey Kong Junior
minimal route memorization needed
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
level routing for speed/collectibles
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.