head to head

eXceed Gun Bullet Children cover artvsGhosts 'n Goblins cover art

eXceed Gun Bullet ChildrenvsGhosts 'n Goblins

eXceed Gun Bullet Children leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Ghosts 'n Goblins leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).

EXECUTION9 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION5 /10
eXceed Gun Bullet ChildrenGhosts 'n Goblins

Axis by axis

Execution9 vs 9

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance2 vs 1

eXceed Gun Bullet Children leans harder on variance: Patterns are fixed and memorisable, not random

Optimization5 vs 6

Ghosts 'n Goblins leans harder on optimization: Weapon choice and route memorisation are mandatory

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

eXceed Gun Bullet Children

full breakdown

Ghosts 'n Goblins