head to head
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.

Execution · Pure Mechanics
A pure execution test of translating physical skating intuition into analog stick inputs.

Execution · Pure Mechanics
PS3 twin-stick shooter wrapping planets in asteroid storms and chained multipliers.
Skate 3 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Super Stardust HD leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Skate 3
Analog stick flicks for trick inputs demand fine motor precision
Super Stardust HD
Twin-stick precision amid screen-filling asteroid chaos
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Skate 3
No adaptive opponent; competitive modes are score chases
Super Stardust HD
Spawns follow fixed logic, no adaptation
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Skate 3
Physics jank can produce unexpected results on complex terrain
Super Stardust HD
Spawn positions vary modestly per run
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Skate 3
Trick selection and line routing benefit from planning but aren't deep systems
Super Stardust HD
Weapon matching and multiplier preservation reward strategy
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.