head to head
vs
Metroid Prime 4: BeyondvsShovel Knight
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Shovel Knight leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Metroid Prime 4: BeyondShovel Knight
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 6
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 1
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond leans harder on variance: minor encounter randomness
Optimization5 vs 4
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond leans harder on optimization: sequence routing and item upgrades are solvable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.