Everdrive, console, or game crashing at a particular time?

This is the N64 I've had since around 1997.
Never had an issue with it besides the usual failure to boot up games (fixed with the blow method).

However, I find that if i try to get to the start screen of Banjo Kazooie by pressing start as soon as the Rare logo animation is finished showing, the game seems to stop loading.

Any sound effects (like the sound of the jiggies falling/rising out of the picture) finish playing, but the visuals freeze, and the game doesn't load.

I'm loading it through an Everdrive x7, and I don't recall any other game having these issues.
Once the game even froze up when I went to one of the levels after walking around in the hub world.

I've got the latest OS on the everdrive.

I do have the original game that I can test with to see if that's it.
However I'm afraid of it being my N64 itself.

Sometimes it does work fine though with no issues.