head to head
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.

Execution · Practiced Mastery
Arcade car control at speed over memorised tracks with scripted police pressure.

Execution · Practiced Mastery
An isometric combat racer set to metal covers, mixing vehicle upgrades with weaponized laps.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Rock n' Roll Racing leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
High-speed cornering and traffic dodging are the whole test
Rock n' Roll Racing
Isometric cornering and weapon timing carry races.
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
AI racers and cops follow rubber-band scripts
Rock n' Roll Racing
Two-player duels add slight prediction; AI is scripted.
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
Cop spawns and traffic add mild run-to-run noise
Rock n' Roll Racing
Weapon exchanges and pickups create chaos.
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
Track knowledge and racing lines are learnable and fixed
Rock n' Roll Racing
Upgrade purchases and planet-by-planet earnings are plannable.
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.