Building comparison
head to head
Grand Theft Auto VvsNew Super Mario Bros. 2
Grand Theft Auto V asks more than New Super Mario Bros. 2, and the gap is reads.
Grand Theft Auto V
Execution · Practiced Mastery
Sandbox crime playground spanning shooting, driving, and a persistent online economy.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Execution · Practiced Mastery
A coin-obsessed 2D Mario built around hoarding a million coins.
Grand Theft Auto V leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); New Super Mario Bros. 2 leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Grand Theft Auto VNew Super Mario Bros. 2
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Grand Theft Auto V
Driving and shooting demand decent inputs.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Standard 2D Mario jumping precision
Reads2 vs 0
Grand Theft Auto V leans clearly harder on reads.
Grand Theft Auto V
Online PvP exists but mostly gear/positioning, not modeling.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Fully scripted enemies
Variance2 vs 1
Grand Theft Auto V leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Grand Theft Auto V
Some mission and lobby randomness.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Fixed levels, known secrets
Optimization4 vs 5
New Super Mario Bros. 2 leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Grand Theft Auto V
Heists, money loops, builds learnable.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Coin-rush routing for maximum collection
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.