head to head
Super Smash Bros. Melee asks more than Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the gap is execution.

Execution · Competitive PvP
A platform fighter with one of the highest execution ceilings in any competitive game, layered on top of deep human reads.

Reads · Competitive PvP
A platform fighter where edgeguards turn on reading the opponent.
Super Smash Bros. Melee leans Execution (Competitive PvP); Super Smash Bros. Ultimate leans Reads (Competitive PvP).
Super Smash Bros. Melee leans clearly harder on execution.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Wavedashing, L-cancels, and tech-chasing set an extreme physical ceiling
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Tech skill, edgeguards, and DI are mechanically heavy.
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Reading DI choices and opponent adaptive habits is constant and non-convergent
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Adaptive opponents drive ledge and platform mind games.
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Stage hazard RNG and spawn positions add marginal chaos
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Stage hazards and items if enabled.
Super Smash Bros. Melee leans a little harder on optimization, though the gap is small.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Character matchup tiers and optimal movement routing are deeply studied
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Matchup knowledge and kill confirms are learnable.
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.