Building comparison
head to head
Shadow of the ColossusvsSuper Metroid
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Shadow of the Colossus
Optimization · Practiced Mastery
A minimalist action adventure about toppling sixteen colossal puzzle-bosses.
Super Metroid
Execution · Practiced Mastery
Movement execution and route optimisation through a fixed, mappable planet.
Shadow of the Colossus leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Super Metroid leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Shadow of the ColossusSuper Metroid
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 7
Super Metroid leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Shadow of the Colossus
Climbing, grip management, and sword timing on moving giants.
Super Metroid
Wall-jumps, shinesparks and boss dodges demand precise inputs
Reads1 vs 0
Shadow of the Colossus leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Shadow of the Colossus
Colossi follow fixed behavior patterns.
Super Metroid
Bosses cycle fixed patterns, never adapting
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Shadow of the Colossus
Encounters play out nearly identically each attempt.
Super Metroid
Item and route knowledge is fixed once discovered
Optimization7 vs 7
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Shadow of the Colossus
Each colossus is a solvable climbing puzzle.
Super Metroid
Sequence-breaking route optimisation is the enduring meta-game
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.