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I always felt that Aslan cheated the White Witch.
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Of course he didn't. He allowed her to believe that by killing him she would win. It was her own imperfect knowledge of the Emperor's law that led her into this error. In fact Aslan fulfils to the letter the terms of their agreement, and dies in Edmund's place: it is only Jadis's expectations that are cheated, which is, of course, Lewis's point.
It was a fairly common theme in early-medieval Christian literature to see Christ's sacrifice and resurrection in just such a light: in
The Dream of the Rood he is portrayed as a much more active figure than we are used to seeing, actively mounting the cross apparently unaided. The purpose of this heroic act is unambiguously the defeat of Satan, since in the medieval reckoning of events, the crucifixion was immediately followed by the harrowing of Hell. Given Aslan's role as an allegory of Christ and Lewis's own knowledge of medieval literature, it seems hardly surprising that he should portray this as he did. Good does not, of course, cheat evil; rather evil is deceived by its own ignorance and reliance on temporal power.
To compare Aslan with Gandalf is dangerous, given that the latter is definitely not an allegory of Christ. Gandalf's knowledge is explicitly and intentionally restricted; he is not privy to the thoughts of the Creator, and must take a leap of faith (with some help from a fiery whip). Aslan, like Christ, knowingly sacrifices himself to fulfil a bargain and to save those deserving of punishment, which is an entirely different order of sacrifice. I would argue that since these two characters have entirely different roles, both in the narrative and in their respective cosmologies, their sacrifices cannot really be compared.
Personally my gravest reservation about C.S. Lewis is his insistence on using rather blunt allegories to force a certain point of view on his audience. I gather from some of Tolkien's correspondance that he was concerned with the theological orthodoxy of his friend's writing, but he was also deeply troubled by his own, despite his careful avoidance of allegorical correspondance between his characters and his own religion. I agree that it is more like Tolkien to show a martyrdom than the Passion, but I think that we're on extremely dangerous ground if we try to suggest that the former is superior to the latter.