Thanks everyone for clearing it all up! I shall continue building my run on my pal system and if I ever reach a competitive level i'll look at a NTSC system & cartridge!

Thanks for your input! I now can see that the NTSC (Japanese or US) version is at 60Hz, while my European pal version is 50hz... That now explains why everyone uses the US version of the game.. explains why im losing time! Thanks for your help :)

So you are saying people maybe using a NTSC system with a converter(passport plus 3 for example) to allow them to play the PAL games on the faster system?

Hey, I'm just starting to speed run on my old N64 (Pokemon stadium for now) but comparing my gameplay side by side with the top guys like werster and revven etc I lose so much time in what looks like N64 performance alone... for example after selecting our team at the same time werster and co will be selecting their first move when my opponents pokemon is still half way through doing its cry, so I just lost 3-5 seconds there alone.

Im using a old CRT TV, 99 EU grey N64 (connected with the standard EU scart cable) with the Memory pak upgrade.

Is my N64 just slow due to it being so old now or is there a massive difference between the EU / NA versions of the game? or are the later versions of the N64 better? Do you guys all upgrade/mod your N64's for better performance?

Any feedback would be much appreciated, going mad here :)