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Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64)/Regional and Version Differences
This is a sub-page of Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64).
There are some differences between the Japanese, American, European and Japanese Rumble Pack versions.
Contents
Intro Screen
| NTSC | PAL |
|---|---|
 |
 |
The intro screen says PRESS START in the NTSC version, but just START in the PAL version.
Voice Acting
Princess Peach doesn't have any voice acting in the original Japanese release during the beginning and final cutscenes. This was added for all other versions.
Mario's Lines
Mario doesn't say a few lines in the Japanese version:
- "Hello!" when his disembodied head greets you.
- "Okey-dokey!" when you choose a save file.
- "Let's-a go!" when you choose a star.
- "Game over." when you run out of lives.
- "Press START to play." when you are watching the demo.
- His dreams about pasta are missing.
Super Mario 64 Course Name Differences
In the NTSC-J ORG Super Mario 64, the names of the levels have names that could be in comparison with the level select's list of levels. For an example, Lethal Lava Land is the English name for the lava stage in the basement, however the name of the level in the ORG Japanese version is "ファイアバブル ランド". Dudaw claims it says "FireBall land" (In the debug section of the wiki); The proper translation is "FireBubble Land":
| English | Japanese |
|---|---|
| The English name of the lava course in NTSC-US and PAL versions. | Japanese name of the lava course. |
Jolly Roger Bay
| Japanese | American |
|---|---|
 |
 |
In the Japanese version, the painting of Jolly Roger Bay is essentially water with some bubbles added in. It also was unique in that it did not have a gold frame (sported by almost every other painting in the game, excluding the Wet-Dry World painting). In the American version, the painting has been changed and the frame was made golden. Super Mario 64 DS uses the Japanese bubbles picture for an unknown reason.
| Japanese | American |
|---|---|
 |
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In the level itself, the Star on the stone pillar is out in the open in the Japanese version, but contained inside a ! box in the American version, probably to make the Star's position not too obvious.
Cool Cool Mountain
| Japanese | American |
|---|---|
.png) |
 |
When you take the baby to her mother, the Power Star is placed right above the mother in the Japanese version. This was probably a bit hard to collect, so the Star was moved next to the pool in the American version.
Glitches
Some glitches which were present in the Japanese version have been fixed for the American release.
- When you step on one of the cap switches in the Japanese version, the surroundings stop moving, which they don't do in the American version. This was done to fix a visual bug where if you stepped on the switch and collected the Power Star right away before the message box can appear, the star would not disappear upon collection.
- It's possible to collect more than 999 coins (for instance, grabbing the coins generated by Bowser's fire), at which point the coin counter gets forced back to 999. A bug in the Japanese version causes it to instead try to set the life counter to 999. Since the life counter is only 8 bits, this becomes -25, which is displayed as M25 in the game. (M is used in the place of a minus sign. This is also seen in the Classic Debug Display described above, when Mario moves at a negative speed.) This is likely a copy-and-paste error in the source code:
if(lives > 100) lives = 100;
if(coins > 999) lives = 999; //oops!
- In the Japanese version, when Bowser is defeated and leaves behind the key, run to where the key will land and press C-Up and look somewhere. Mario will keep looking that way during the key collection cutscene, which looks absolutely hilarious.
- Further, the key collection cutscene shows a Power Star instead of a key; this may be a leftover, as early footage (see right) of the first Bowser fight show him leaving behind a Power Star upon defeat.
HUD Key
| Japanese | PAL |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Sound Effect Changes
 | To do: Upload and compare these sounds. |
JAP to NTSC
- The Chain Chomp makes a totally different barking sound in the Japanese version.
- The Red Coins use a different sound that doesn't increase in pitch for each collected coin in the Japanese version.
- Certain sound effects are missing in the game's opening.
NTSC to PAL
- In the intro, when Mario jumps out of the pipe and the pipe goes back into the ground, a sound is heard in the NTSC version. This sound has been made a lot quieter in the PAL version, almost down to where you can't hear it.
- Bowser's doors have completely different sounds for opening and closing in the NTSC version. In the PAL version, they sound pretty much the same.
- The yellow coin collecting sound is slightly different in the PAL version.
- When letting go of Mario's face when playing around with it, the PAL version's sound is off.
Shindō Pak Taiō Version
This Japanese re-release can be primarily considered an "International Edition" of the game. It includes all the changes to the US version, fixes the "backwards long jump" glitch, and adds Rumble Pak support. The only other difference (besides text) that was retained from the previous Japanese release was Mario's taunt when swinging Bowser far away – Mario says "Buh-bye!" rather than "So long, King Bowser!" This was left the same because Bowser is originally known as Koopa in Japan. It can be heard in the game's attract mode demo. This clip was reused for the Sleep Mode in Super Mario 64 DS and New Super Mario Bros.
- In the European version, the options menu has three different languages, but the American version doesn't have a language selection. Because of this, the American version has 'Sound' instead of 'Options' like in the European version.
