The template/graphics look solid, but the art restore is rather dark and saturated. A lot of the detail is lost with the contrast shift, which we be even more evident in print form.
Unfortunately, the issues you mentioned are due to the source data. The problem lies either in the actual game cover, or in the way it was scanned. The problem does not lie in my retouch work.
I don't use any contrast filters or saturation filters. The image does look saturated, but this is because the original source is oversaturated. This is not something I would correct, as the goal is to make a replica of how the original source material looks. Fixing up the source and making it look better results in a replica that no longer looks accurately genuine. It is possible that perhaps the person's scan is the issue here, and that the original cover wasn't so saturated. I cannot know this when I work with a scan, so I cannot assume that the scan is inaccurate, and cannot simply decide to fix it up because I don't like the way it looks. This is not the first time that I have encountered video games where the labels were printed with obvious oversaturation.
The filters that I used and my methods of using them were chosen specifically because they do not remove detail. I do not run any contrast filters, but rather use a tone curve that adjusts the blackpoint and whitepoint. Adjusting the blackpoint fixes the greyed out blacks and makes the blacks deep, while adjusting for the whitepoint clears up the whites and removes any tint that may have come through from the scanning process. There is no detail lost as all of the brightness scaling is linear and effectively stretches out a narrower band of the lightness spectrum, which would result in existing details being more preserved than anything else. The only thing that's clipped are the dark colors darker than the blackpoint, and the light colors lighter than the whitepoint. There is no useful data in the clipped bands of the spectrum as it's all noise, so losing that does not lose any detail, as long as appropriate white/blackpoints are chosen.
Adjusting the blackpoint and whitepoint are essential steps when touching up scans and photos. As far as that goes, it was done correctly.
I have done a few test prints and have analyzed them both visually with a loupe and digitally by scanning them. The details were well preserved. If there is a better source scan of this cover, I can use that instead. However, considering this is the scan that I have to work with, I took the proper steps to fix it up. This isn't my first touchup of a scan. I can't enhance it beyond the original properties of the image as then it will no longer be a replica, but an enhancement over the original, which is not what my goal is.
I have looked for a picture of this cover in the wild, and here's what I found, below. Note that the actual cartridge does have the same saturation issue. This is a 'problem' is a 'feature' of the actual game.
This seems to be a common theme among cartridge labels when compared to the box/manual art. The cartridge labels very frequently have color issues. I remember encountering this as a kid when I would look at the games that I had. See below for more specific examples of this game's box covers being oversaturated:
