Using my near 30 year old n64 again...

Could just be me not remembering n64 performance but I'm experiencing slow downs in games like OoT when lots of sprites go off or enemies are screen. Jet force Gemini was having single digit fps drops during cut scenes. Also takes several retires of inserting cartridges in and out to get them to read.

Is this all normal, did I just forget as a kid that slowdown were common place or does my console need a cleaning for overheating issues

Haven't touched my n64 for over 10 years, was in my parents basement