How was this created?

You know the old video game box-arts? (Such as below). How were they created, because I really want to make something like this. I figured it's maybe using Corel, or Photoshop, but then again they didn't have those progams back in the 80s and 90s.

http://gunstarheroes.classicgaming.gamespy.com/docs/megadrive_box.jpg

Never overlook the possibility that it might have been simply drawn and painted by hand. Not everything in this world has to be made by a computer program. In fact, a great many things are better off never coming near a computer.

The illustrations of these things always looked a thousand times better than the crude video images from the programs. The artist may have used some screen grabs as a visual reference, and then embellished them and slicked them up in the final, all by hand.

Definitely a hand done illustration. No doubt in my mind.