head to head

Super Paper Mario cover artvsTrine 2 cover art

Super Paper MariovsTrine 2

Super Paper Mario leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Trine 2 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION4 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE1 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10
Super Paper MarioTrine 2

Axis by axis

Execution4 vs 4

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

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

Trine 2 leans harder on optimization: Hero-swap puzzle solving is the central test

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Super Paper Mario

full breakdown

Trine 2