Why Bismarck was not Europe's unmatched battleship

Was Bismarck superior to every other contemporary battleship?

No; Littorio and King George V were at least serious rivals, while Yamato was in a different category entirely.

Bismarck was not the best Axis battleship. The Littorio class ranks ahead among European contemporaries, while Yamato was far above both in scale. King George V also compares more favorably than calibre alone suggests because ten 14-inch guns deliver a weight and rate of fire competitive with eight 15-inch guns. British fire control further changes the practical comparison. Duke of York's destruction of Scharnhorst at the Battle of the North Cape shows that a well-handled 14-inch battery was a formidable combat system rather than an automatic inferiority.