Building comparison
head to head
Donkey KongvsSuper Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
Donkey Kong
Execution · Practiced Mastery
The 1981 arcade classic of climbing girders and dodging barrels.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Execution · Practiced Mastery
The famously punishing Japanese sequel to Super Mario Bros., built for players who mastered the original.
Donkey Kong leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Donkey KongSuper Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
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
Frame-tight jumps over barrels under arcade pressure
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Brutal precision jumps, poison mushrooms punish any input slip
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
Fixed arcade patterns, nothing adapts
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
No adaptive opponent; everything is scripted
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
Barrel bounces add slight unpredictability
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Hidden blocks and warp zones until memorised
Optimization6 vs 6
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Donkey Kong
Stage patterns and score routes fully learnable
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Level memorisation and warp routing are half the battle
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.
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