From my googling it looks like it runs 480i/60hz in NTSC and 480i/50Hz with black bars in PAL.
Basically they are
a) only outputting interlaced
b) not using the extra vertical resolution in PAL display modes, but displaying black bars instead of the extra pixels, though the frequency is lowered as per PAL spec:(

Thanks, that echoes what I read about the PAL version too.

This is very lame... How hard would it be to just implement the 60 Hz mode in the PAL version, it's basically the same as outputting NTSC as far as I know.

Homebrew region-free play FTW?

Well, I think that if you set your Wii to output NTSC you'll get 480i/60hz... of course that won't work if your TV can't sync 60hz (older SD tvs might not be multistandard). I doubt they actually hard-coded the output mode in the PAL versions, much more probable that it simply follows the system setting.

The 60 Hz icon is not on the back of the box so I'm not sure that would work... Maybe someone who has the game can confirm.

My TV has the option to display the exact stats a game is running at.

MadWorld in NTSC runs at 480i/60Hz

MadWorld in PAL runs at 576i/50Hz.

The game runs at 16/9 widescreen in both territories.

It's unbelievable that one of the biggest games on the Wii doesn't support the same display quality as most shovelware games like the Petz series for example.

Some may argue it doesn't matter because of the black & white, but it matters even more because it's in black & white. The game doesn't run fluidly because of the lack of progressive scan and 50Hz (for PAL), and it makes the image quite unclear when walking around. The framerate is fine (30 fps), but it looks like it's running at 15 fps because of this.

I can't figure out why Platinum Games didn't utilize 480p for this game. It's extremely annoying.

@Chrizum: You say it runs in widescreen, so you don't see the black bars? Are you sure your TV isn't in "zoom mode" or something like that?

PAL by default isn't 60hz - its higher resolution, at 50hz.

The 480p thing is disappointing though. I'll find out in the coming weeks what the problem with 480p support is - I know at least one reason why some developers won't use it, but I can't say anything (NDA).

We'll definitely be using it though - it just makes too great a difference.

^Just out of curiosity, how come you have this kind of info and agreement? Do you work with Wii developers?

I know the old PAL standard itself doesn't support 60 Hz, however most Wii games do and that works on a lot of "PAL" TVs.

As for why 480p isn't supported, I'm curious because all the Nintendo games support it. 480p has the great advantage that it's the same for all the world.

I think the slower running games thing was mostly during the 2D era (Sonic being a famous example). I'd be surprised if Madworld or other 50 Hz games actually ran slower than the US version.