Super Mario 64
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Super Mario 64 was the launch title for the Nintendo 64 (N64), and is largely considered to be one of the best and most important 3D platformers of all time.
Game Versions
There are many different versions of the game, differing by where, when, how, and in what way they were released.
N64
The Nintendo 64 console is less robust than modern consoles, so its CPU is more likely to crash when confronted by unforeseen occurrences.
Japanese
V1.0
The very first version of the game, the Japanese 1.0 N64 has all the quirks of the Japanese 1.1 N64 version, as well as different Timestop mechanics and other things (please add if you are reading this).
V1.1
Version 1.1 of the Japanese N64 version fixed some of the bugs from the 1.0 version, but still contains many that were later fixed, such as spawning displacement, the lack of a coin limit, and other things (also please add). It is notable because it contains less dialogue than the English version. For example, Mario does not say "Haha", nor does Peach narrate her "Dear Mario" letter. She also does not talk during the ending. This version is notable for being the fastest version of the game for the 1 Key category, but no others. This is because the text takes longer, but the lack of narration makes the game shorter. The text in the first Bowser fight is avoided during the 1 Key run, so the Japanese version becomes faster.
English
The English version of the game introduces voice clips like "Haha" and Peach's voice clips. It fixes some errors from the previous version, like the lack of a coin limit. It has, in general, less text than the Japanese version, but takes longer during the intro and ending due to Peach's narration.
PAL
The European release of Super Mario 64 supports language changing in the settings menu between English, French, and German. This is optimal for the ABZ Button Challenge because the Start button can be used to change language and the language with the least text can be selected. Due to Wii VC Round-To-Zero, however, the true optimal PAL version is not on N64. Outside of ABZ, PAL is little-used because changing languages wastes time and English is effectively identical if you do not change languages. Because of the PAL video format using 50hz instead of NTSC's 60hz, PAL runs at 25 frames per second rather than 30, another reason why it is suboptimal for speedruns/TASes.
Shindou
The final release of Super Mario 64 was once again in Japanese. It enabled a compiler flag to allow optimizations, so the game lags less. It also fixed the Backwards Long Jump glitch, which is why it is rarely used in speedruns, except in the BLJless category. Strangely, when grabbing a pole on this version, horizontal speed affects Mario's angle. The game introduced new voice clips like "Bye, bye!" when throwing Bowser. Some of Mario's voice clips are high-pitched in this version.
Wii VC
Main article: Virtual Console
The Wii acts differently from the N64. It is much less likely to crash. Unlike the N64, it does not crash from PU crashes, Bully angle crash, Bob-omb angle crash, or when Mario gets infinite speed. The Wii also has a different rounding method for floats than other consoles, which is documented here: Wii VC Round-To-Zero
Japanese
Japanese Wii VC is actually the Shindou edition, not the original Japanese version. This is why it does not have spawning displacement or other Japanese N64-exclusive glitches, nor does it have BLJs. It is almost never used for speedrunning for that reason.
English
English Wii VC is the optimal Wii VC for speedruns. It avoids the lack of BLJs in the Japanese version and the slower framerate of the PAL version. It is used for the A Button Challenge any% run because Bowser in the Fire Sea takes 0 A presses instead of 1 due to a rounding error.
PAL
PAL Wii VC is rarely seen because it is obscure and slow. However, it is actually the ideal game version for the ABZ Button Challenge, at least for any%, because it contains both language switching and the rounding error in BitFS.
Wii U VC
Main article: Virtual Console
The Wii U has no known interesting glitches that set it apart from either N64 or Wii VC. It is identical to Wii VC, except that the rounding error is absent.
Japanese
Not commonly used in speedruns.
English
Not commonly used in speedruns.
PAL
Not commonly used in speedruns.
iQue (Chinese)
The iQue version of the game runs on a similar console to the N64. Because there are no TASing tools available for this console, it is unknown how the console acts upon a floating-point truncation error, since BLJing and the Bob-omb and Bully angle crashes were patched. It is still being studied and has never been useful in a speedrun for similar reasons to the Shindou version.
64DD Version
Super Mario 64 DD Version or SM64DD (called Super Mario Disk Version on the title screen) was an unreleased version of the game for the 64DD, likely made to test the load times of the system. Only one public copy of this version exists, owned by adonfjv, who found it at a Japanese video game store in 2014[1]. The ROM (NDD) of this version has since been dumped.
SM64DD is effectively the Japanese version of SM64 ported to the 64DD, with most (but not all) sounds replaced with their PAL versions. For example, the red coin and the sliding star door sounds are the same as in the Japanese release. The title screen is vastly different, resembling the hidden debug mode's level select screen. Since it is on a disk, load times are increased.
The most major difference is that entering the inside of the island in Tiny Huge Island, where Wiggler and red coins reside, will crash the game. The crash is console only, and seems to occur after Wiggler starts moving. Note that this area is apparently the only area with more than one warp in or out, with this or Wiggler's movement possibly being the cause of the crash.
History
Super Mario 64 was a game that was in development in 1995, the beta's were shown at the Shoshinkai show in November of 1995, with the introduction of the Nintendo 64 (Ultra 64). Early footage of the show revealed the beta version of Super Mario 64, in which it looked completely different than what the finally product looked like, the final product was suppose to come out in December, but it was delayed further, the entire game was rebuild and in May 16th, E3 1996, the game almost looks like the original game we have now and looks almost finished, and the entire game was almost accessible, some stuff got changed before the release, such as the star sprite being changed, more small details needed to be added. The game was rushed at the end as told by one of the programmers of Super Mario 64, and some of them never wanted to code due to Super Mario 64, they all were burnt out, and the game was released in Japan on June 23rd, then September 26th that was released for the US.