Building comparison
head to head
Hollow KnightvsSuper Mario Galaxy 2
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is reads, and it is a single point.
Hollow Knight
Execution · Practiced Mastery
A precision metroidvania about learning fixed boss patterns and tight platforming.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Execution · Practiced Mastery
A 3D platformer about precise gravity-bending jumps through fixed galaxies.
Hollow Knight leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Super Mario Galaxy 2 leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Hollow KnightSuper Mario Galaxy 2
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.
Hollow Knight
Precise platforming and pogo timing dominate hard content.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Precise jumps and gravity navigation define every galaxy
Reads1 vs 0
Hollow Knight leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Hollow Knight
Bosses run scripted attack pools; not adaptive.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Bosses are scripted patterns, not adapting to you
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Hollow Knight
Negligible; world layout is fixed.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Levels are deterministic, nothing random
Optimization6 vs 6
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Hollow Knight
Charm builds and boss routes are fully learnable.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Learning fixed layouts and routes for stars
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.