head to head

Gradius: The Interstellar Assault cover artvsSuper Metroid cover art

Gradius: The Interstellar AssaultvsSuper Metroid

Gradius: The Interstellar Assault leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Super Metroid leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).

EXECUTION8 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE1 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10
Gradius: The Interstellar AssaultSuper Metroid

Axis by axis

Execution8 vs 7

Gradius: The Interstellar Assault leans harder on execution: Precise dodging through scripted waves on tiny hardware

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance1 vs 1

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization6 vs 7

Super Metroid leans harder on optimization: Sequence-breaking route optimisation is the enduring meta-game

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

Gradius: The Interstellar Assault

full breakdown

Super Metroid