Are emulators allowed for runs of this game? If so is there any noticeable difference between the emulator and actual ps2 for this game?

I haven't done extensive research into emulation for this game. However, from what experience I have dabbling with it so far I saw it lag in different places than the PS2, i.e. places where the PS2 lags will play smoothly in emulation and vice versa. At the moment I see no reason to disallow emulators. Submit your run(s) and just make sure that you include which emu you're running the game on in the run description.

Just wanted to reply with a quick update, since that last response the more recent versions of PCSX2 outpace an actual PS2 in basic gameplay speed (game's move slightly faster at all times) so emulators are now banned.