head to head
vs
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost LevelsvsSuper Metroid
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Super Metroid leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost LevelsSuper Metroid
Axis by axis
Execution8 vs 7
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels leans harder on execution: Brutal precision jumps, poison mushrooms punish any input slip
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 1
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization6 vs 7
Super Metroid leans harder on optimization: Sequence-breaking route optimisation is the enduring meta-game
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.