Building comparison
head to head
New Super Mario Bros. U DeluxevsSpace Harrier II
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is optimization, 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.
Space Harrier II
Execution · Pure Mechanics
A fast arcade rail-shooter testing reflexes through surreal scrolling stages.
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Space Harrier II leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
New Super Mario Bros. U DeluxeSpace Harrier II
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
Space Harrier II
reflex dodging in fast rail-shooter
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
Space Harrier II
fixed enemy patterns, no adaptation
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. U Deluxe
minor enemy placement randomness
Space Harrier II
minimal randomness
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
Space Harrier II
little beyond memorizing enemy waves
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.