When comparing Nez vs TIC-80, the Slant community recommends TIC-80 for most people. In the question“What are the best 2D game engines?” TIC-80 is ranked 49th while Nez is ranked 89th. The most important reason people chose TIC-80 is:
The app contains tools for coding, sprite editing, map editing, sfx and music editing.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Active community
The community is very active, so if you ask for help you'll get it relatively quickly.
Pro Open source
Completely free, no need to pay for licenses.
Pro Cross-platform development thanks to the use of mono and xamarin
Nez is built on top of monoGame and can be used the make games for many platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac, Android or IOS).
Pro All tools in one place
The app contains tools for coding, sprite editing, map editing, sfx and music editing.
Pro Free
Free version already includes most features but a paid version is available.
Pro Retro-styled and restricted environment
Pixelated Software with a good retro style.
Pro Many Scripting languages' supported
Use awesome scripting languages like: Lua, Wren, Moonscript, JS, Ruby, etc.
Pro Export
Exports easily to Windows, Windows-XP, mac, Linux and HTML.
Pro Noob underdog
You can imagine this engine Shiva Lua scripting language making 2d side scrolling Megaman style games a Bandai trademark.
Cons
Con Just a framework
Meaning there's no visual scene designer so you'll have to write your own.