Around Two years ago, I bought a NSTC-J gamecube just so I could submit NSTC-J runs for this game. I guess because of SM64, I've assumed the Japan version was the best version to run. Looking at the leaderboard though, it seems to be mixed with both NSTC versions. Is there any major difference between the two? If so, I think I'll just sell my NSTC-J gamecube and submit runs using the NSTC-U version.

Both have the same number of textboxes and for all known glitches are equal in time taken.

The final part weighs 85 on the Japanese version and 40 on the US, so actually carries faster. This difference is 10s or less, so it's noticeable but not a deal breaker.

Both versions are fine.