This is to help those of you wanting to buy the game and run it legitimately. There are 3 regions with 5 different versions of Silent Hill (NTSC-U/C, NTSC-J V1.0, NTSC-J V1.01, NTSC-J V1.1 and PAL). For speedrunning, the latter three do not have the Amusement Park skip (using the Aglaophotis on the first Larval Stalker / ghost child that you encounter), and are not optimal for speedruns.

NTSC-U/C

(left to right: Black Label, Greatest Hits, PlayStation Network)

Unlike NTSC-J, the Greatest Hits version retains the glitch, all three releases are fine for speedrunning.

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NTSC-J (aka "V1.0")

NTSC-J "Konami The Best" (aka "V1.1")

NTSC-J "PS one Books" (aka "V1.1")

V1.1 fixes the Amusement Park skip. Make note of the case and especially the disc. You do not want this version if you want to speedrun (except UFO category because the run ends before the Amusement Park).

Here's where things get a little trickier, the Konami The Best version is easy to tell, it has Konami The Best on the disc of course, however the PS One Books version has gone back to the V1.0 disc design. Here's how to tell them apart: Look very closely at the disc (not the case, because we don't know if the store or wherever you're buying from has switched discs around etc.), look very closely where the "EN" in SILENT HILL is, all three versions have unique codes:

V1.0 V1.1 "Konami The Best" V1.1 "PS one Books"

So you're looking for "VX131-J1 / SLPM-86192"

But wait! There's another version:

NTSC-J (aka "V1.01")

As if it wasn't complicated enough, there seems to be this extremely rare hotfix version that I bought off ebay, 99.9% of the case, manual and disc are identical to V1.0 except for a bullet point after VX131-J1, make sure to check the disc very carefully, this version seems to have fixed the Amusement Park skip but has no other changes. We will call this "V1.01".

VX131-J1

VX131-J1⚫

I've not seen any of these before or since, so it seems to be so rare that you probably don't need to worry about it, but check that line on the disc if possible when buying the game.

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PAL

(left to right: Black Label, Platinum, PlayStation Network)

The Amusement Park skip was fixed in all PAL versions. You do not want any PAL version if you want to speedrun.

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NTSC-J with Modchips (no stealth)

The NTSC-J version has Anti Modchip protection which produces this screen when the "KCET" logo appears: If using a modchipped console that has no stealth. To get around this you can use a gameshark code to disable the Modchip check:

D01E778E 1040 801E778E 1000

Alternative code (for V1.1?):

D01E7804 2021 801E7800 FFF6 D01E7804 2021 801E7802 1000 After Check: D00CC08C 0003 800CC08C 0001

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A note on the PSN versions: PS one Classics are nothing more than ISO dumps. There is no code alterations or differences to that of the disc versions. PS one Classics can be played on PS3, PSP, Vita and PSTV. These devices use a PS1 emulator (even for discs on PS3). Emulation on PS3 tends to be relatively poor with slowdowns, long load times and sound glitches, however because the ingame timer slows with the framerate, speedrunning this version is still fine. Playing a disc version on PS3 tends to perform better. PSP, Vita and PSTV use the same emulator which is much better than the PS3 emulator overall with some minor glitches (no fades between doors, some framerate drops in other areas). Neither NTSC-J version was ever released on PSN.

PSP: Having "Interlaced" selected in the Video Output section will allow PS one Classics to run in their native resolution of 240p. However for Silent Hill, the menus switch to 480i so you will have cutouts when jumping from the game (240p) to the menu and map (480i) - this will occur even if you have the PSP hooked up to a CRT. Setting the Video Output setting on the PSPs Video Options to "Progressive" overcomes this and outputs a constant 480p. In addition, to optimally run the game you will need a DualShock for analog stick movement on cursor screens, only the PSP go has built in bluetooth and works with a DualShock 3.