(26/03/2025) This guide is kinda old and bad, I'll probably update this at some point in the future but it is good enough for now and still has useful/relevant information.
Take reference of this sheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Qbm_QGGF8WllGQ5y_1Kg-lyy9FhWD6SFg5oiS__dMF4/edit. This guide is mostly focused on Any%.
Clarification
Consoles:
- PS2 = PlayStation 2
- BC PS3 = Backwards-compatible PlayStation 3, the first few models of PS3 which have the ability to play PS1 and PS2 games
- PS3 = PlayStation 3 HD Remaster, digital download or Collection disc
- PS Vita = PlayStation Vita Remaster, digital download or Collection cartridge
- PS Now = PlayStation Plus Premium (formerly known as PlayStation Now) streaming The Sly Trilogy or The Sly Collection on PC, PS4 or PS5.
- PS4 / PS5 = 2024 PS2 Classics release
Regions:
- NTSC-U = North American version (Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus)
- PAL = European version (Sly Raccoon)
- NTSC-J = Japanese version (Kaitou Sly Cooper / 怪盗スライ・クーパー)
- NTSC-J (KOR) = Korean version (슬라이 쿠퍼: 전설의 비법서를 찾아서)
List of regions + consoles in order of speediness
Original:
- NTSC-U BC PS3
- NTSC-U PS5
- PAL BC PS3
- PAL PS5
- NTSC-U PS2
- NTSC-U PS4
- PAL PS2
- PAL PS4
Remaster (Load Patch):
- NTSC-U PS3
- PAL PS3
- NTSC-J (KOR) PS3 (See Remaster Load Patch for more)
- NTSC-J BC PS3
- NTSC-J PS5
- NTSC-J (KOR) BC PS3
- NTSC-J (KOR) PS5
- NTSC-J PS2
- NTSC-J PS4
- NTSC-J (KOR) PS2
- NTSC-J (KOR) PS4
- NTSC-J PS3
- NTSC / PAL PS Vita
- NTSC / PAL PS Now
Recommendations (Original, console):
- It is generally recommended to play on PS5, or start off on PS2 or PS4.
- The PS4 and PS5 versions of the game are bundled with all four versions of the game, meaning the NTSC version is accessible to all, and is even free with PS Plus Extra.
- Do not feel the need to buy a BC PS3 when starting out. While BC PS3 is the fastest method of play, they are infamously unreliable and expensive, and generally not recommended especially if you are just starting out. BC PS3 only saves ~15-20 seconds compared to PS5 in Any%.
Recommendations (Remaster, console):
- Since every remaster version functions exactly the same, there isn't a lot to talk about here. If you have the option, NTSC is optimal.
- Hard drive makes a significant difference in loading times. Equipping your PS3 with an SSD is faster than the stock HDD your PS3 comes with.
- Avoid discs. PS3 discs are painfully slow, and especially avoid PS Now (PS Plus Streaming).
- PS Vita, though it has decently fast resets and every trick works the same, has very slow loads and cannot reset to skip intro cinematics.
- Ignore the NTSC-J, and NTSC-J (KOR) PS2 versions. They aren't really relevant here.
(26/03/2025) At this point forward, this is from the older version of this guide. The majority of this is still correct and relevant, but it may be a big of a hodge-podge of information and overexplaining :^)
PAL versus NTSC-U on PS2 (Original)
PAL and NTSC-U (plus NTSC-J) Original versions work a little bit differently from each other. It is much easier to play on the NTSC-U version, though the PAL version is also a viable version to play on. Proxies are harder on PAL, for whatever reason. It's believed to have something to do with the game's lower framerate. To counteract this, most proxies on NTSC-U are doable on PAL with the same results, simply by pausing the game. Pausing the game causes the game to slow down, which affects clock speed. When clock speed is changed from its normal value of 1, the game's physics react differently.
Model numbers of a PS2 are also important to take note of. The fastest PS2 is an SCPH-90xxx (just known as the "90k" model), which is a slim model. The smaller the number, the slower it is. Despite this, the fastest PS2 couldn't reset on Mz Ruby's intro, something that the BC PS3 can. It's probably worth noting that there was a Sony Bravia TV that had a built-in PAL PS2, but it hasn't been tested for speed. (Allegedly it has the internals of a 90k PS2.)
Remaster (Load Patch)
A full guide on running on Remaster can be found here: https://speedrun.com/sly1/guide/w6pps/
Remaster is slower primarily due to the Load Patch and not being able to set up Cinematic Skips.
Japan only ever got a disc release for the remaster, so while it is faster as a language, it is slower by default compared to the Korean version as running on disc is much much slower than running on a downloaded version of the game.
NTSC-U is faster than PAL due to Health and Safety skip, where setting the PS3 to a certain language will skip the warning at every reset. NTSC-J (KOR) is slightly slower than PAL due to language differences.
Asian PS2 releases (Load Patch on PS2)
Both NTSC-J releases work the same as NTSC-U, the only difference is that it has the same Load Patch as the remaster does, meaning that you cannot set up Cinematic Skips. Japanese is faster as a language than Korean.
PS Vita and PS Now (Load Patch, Reset "Patch")
PS Vita and PS Now work exactly the same as Remaster, but they cannot skip the animated cutscenes through resets. PS Vita has a faster reset than PS Now for boss intro cutscenes and doesn't have to wait for the autosave to get out of menu locking, making it faster compared to PS Now.
