head to head
vs
Mario Bros.vsPac-Mania
Mario Bros. leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Pac-Mania leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Mario Bros.Pac-Mania
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 7
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 0
Mario Bros. leans harder on reads: Versus mode adds light human interference, enemies are scripted
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization4 vs 5
Pac-Mania leans harder on optimization: Maze routes and pellet timing have learnable optimal patterns
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.