@NMeade: Emulation glitch. Also, if I were to make a TAS of Mario sunshine there would also be the input shifting I mentioned in the Dolphin development topic that would hold me back. But I'm pretty sure ReneBalow, who does not have this problem, will make the first publishable any% TAS of the game. :)
First frame after jumping off Yoshi on the American and Japanese version in a comparison.
Due to this difference, infinite flutter is only possible in the American version and the ceiling glitch is only possible in the Japanese version.
In an any% TAS, the Japanese version is probably better due to infinite flutter being mostly useless. In a 120 shine TAS, the American version could be better since you can flutter directly onto the small isle with the pipe and yellow goop instead of waiting 3 minutes riding boats. On the other hand, maybe we can use an out-of-bounds glitch to get into that pipe... EDIT: I tried, there's some kind of invisible wall blocking me. :(
Also, I haven't been able to clip into the Episode 8 shine in Gelato beach using Yoshi on both versions (would be pretty useless anyway since Yoshi is only in Episode 6 as far as I know). Oh well.