Sega also commissioned a version of the game for the Sega Saturn in case "Sonic X-treme" was canceled. This cancellation did indeed occur, so "Sonic 3D Blast" was safely released in time for Christmas 1996 in its stead. The game was ported in seven weeks, during development of the Sega Genesis version. While it does feature graphical changes, such as weather effects and higher resolution textures, the game largely plays the same as the original version. It features a higher quality opening video and improved graphics. Sonic Team filled in for development of the special stage in the Saturn version of the game, which includes polygonal graphics as opposed to sprites only. This version is also compatible with the Saturn's analog control pad. The team attempted to rework "X-treme" into bonus stages in the Saturn version. However, they were unable to properly transfer Sonic's model from "X-treme" into "3D Blast", so the feature was scrapped.