Building comparison
head to head
Sonic the Hedgehog 3vsSuper Mario Bros.
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is execution, and it is a single point.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Execution · Practiced Mastery
Momentum-driven execution over fixed levels rewarding memorised routes.
Super Mario Bros.
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Pure jump timing over fully fixed, memorisable levels.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Super Mario Bros. leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Sonic the Hedgehog 3Super Mario Bros.
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 8
Super Mario Bros. leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Holding speed through fixed hazards demands sharp reactions
Super Mario Bros.
Perfect inputs trivialise momentum jumps over fixed hazards
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Badniks and bosses repeat identical scripts
Super Mario Bros.
Goombas walk left forever - nothing to predict
Variance1 vs 0
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Levels never change between runs
Super Mario Bros.
Every level is identical on every run
Optimization5 vs 5
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Route choice and emerald collection reward memorised play
Super Mario Bros.
Level memorisation and warp routing are fully solvable
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.