Building comparison
head to head
New Super Mario Bros. U DeluxevsRhythm Heaven Megamix
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is variance, and it is a single point.
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Execution · Pure Mechanics
A classic 2D Mario platformer rewarding tight jump execution above all.
Rhythm Heaven Megamix
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Pure rhythmic timing against fixed musical cues, minigame after minigame.
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Rhythm Heaven Megamix leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
New Super Mario Bros. U DeluxeRhythm Heaven Megamix
Axis by axis
Execution8 vs 8
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. U Deluxe
precise jump and platforming execution
Rhythm Heaven Megamix
Beat-perfect input timing is the entire test
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. U Deluxe
fixed enemy patterns, no adaptation
Rhythm Heaven Megamix
No opponent - only the music
Variance1 vs 0
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
minor enemy placement randomness
Rhythm Heaven Megamix
Every minigame plays identically each attempt
Optimization3 vs 2
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
level routing for speed/collectibles
Rhythm Heaven Megamix
Cues are learned quickly; timing remains the wall
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.