head to head

LEGO Rock Band cover artvsNew Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe cover art

LEGO Rock BandvsNew Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

LEGO Rock Band leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).

EXECUTION8 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE0 /10OPTIMIZATION2 /10
LEGO Rock BandNew Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

Axis by axis

Execution8 vs 8

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance0 vs 1

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe leans harder on variance: minor enemy placement randomness

Optimization2 vs 3

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe leans harder on optimization: level routing for speed/collectibles

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

LEGO Rock Band

full breakdown

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe