I also have this problem...
I start the game, choose language, choose adventure mode, 1 player, watches the video, there's a loading screen and then it crashes:
I use my personal PAL version of the game.
I tried to run the game from CD and from ISO, no difference whatsoever.
I tried to use ePSXe 1.6 and 1.7, almost no difference, just worse sound in 1.6, some sound also disappears sometimes after a second or two.
I also tried different GPU plgu-ins...
What I got out of that was pete's OGL2 didn't extend the screen to full size, rather a small window in the game!
I tried to change some settings in the gpu plug-in, no difference that I could notice.
I use Windows XP, and my graphic card is GeForce 8800 GT
Hopefully this is enough information and that there's a solution for this now! =)
EDIT: I've tried with several other emualtors n stuff too, just won't work...
And as I said earlier, it happens when you're going to the main room in adventure mode.
I can play just fine in battle mode etc, just isn't the same! >_>