Building comparison
head to head
New Super Mario Bros. 2vsYoshi's Story
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Execution · Practiced Mastery
A coin-obsessed 2D Mario built around hoarding a million coins.
Yoshi's Story
Execution · Practiced Mastery
Storybook N64 platformer where baby Yoshis eat fruit to finish pages.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Yoshi's Story leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
New Super Mario Bros. 2Yoshi's Story
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Standard 2D Mario jumping precision
Yoshi's Story
Gentle platforming with light egg-throw precision.
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Fully scripted enemies
Yoshi's Story
Scripted enemies throughout.
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Fixed levels, known secrets
Yoshi's Story
Fruit placement is fixed per level.
Optimization5 vs 5
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
New Super Mario Bros. 2
Coin-rush routing for maximum collection
Yoshi's Story
Melon routes for high scores are quickly mapped.
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.