head to head
vs
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year DoorvsZ: Steel Soldiers
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Z: Steel Soldiers leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year DoorZ: Steel Soldiers
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 3
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads2 vs 3
Z: Steel Soldiers leans harder on reads: Human skirmishes exist but most play is vs scripted AI
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization7 vs 8
Z: Steel Soldiers leans harder on optimization: Territory-flag economy and build order dominate outcomes
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.