Building comparison
head to head
Guitar Hero III: Legends of RockvsSuper Mario World
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock demands more execution; Super Mario World demands more optimization.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Series peak whose hardest charts became a benchmark for human finger speed.
Super Mario World
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Precise jump execution across fixed levels with secrets to memorise.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Super Mario World leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Guitar Hero III: Legends of RockSuper Mario World
Axis by axis
Execution10 vs 7
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock leans clearly harder on execution.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Through the Fire and Flames defines a hands ceiling
Super Mario World
Perfect inputs trivialise every jump, spin and cape flight
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Charts are fixed; boss battles are gimmicks
Super Mario World
Scripted Koopas adapt to nothing
Variance0 vs 1
Super Mario World leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Deterministic note charts
Super Mario World
Levels are fixed; nothing hidden survives one playthrough
Optimization2 vs 4
Super Mario World leans clearly harder on optimization.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Squeeze paths and star power optimization for scores
Super Mario World
Secret exits and route knowledge add a modest solvable layer
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.