Thrash Rally AES questions

I opened up my copy of Thrash Rally since I needed to clean it and since it was having some sound issues. When I opened it I saw three strange things. I saw a chip I had never seen on a Neo Geo games before, I saw two pins joined with solder, and I was someone trying to bridge a pin with something that looked like a paper clip. Can anyone tell me if this is standard with Thrash Rally games?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19SRPoWkiWBNxU14iOa99KGiOTpFSNoHy/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fwvhzZaeMmzxz8dcJaazO0aIYMMyJZX9/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rkw_61sg3zC7iTwVKHhhraJXlRYt5Rn3/view?usp=drivesdk

Yes that's all normal. Pic 1 shows two ground pins bridged together, that's fine. Pic 2 shows the microprocessor used for the Link cable function, it was used in the other two Link cable games, League Bowling and Riding Hero. Pic 3 shows what looks like a trace repair, that's fine.