Journalists and fans have speculated about the impact "X-treme" might have had. David Houghton of "GamesRadar+" described the prospect of "a good 3D "Sonic" game" on the Saturn as "a 'What if...' situation on a par with the dinosaurs not becoming extinct." "IGN" Travis Fahs described "X-treme" as "an empty vessel for Sega's ambitions and the hopes of their fans ... It was the turning point not only for Sega's mascot and their 32-bit console, but for the entire company." Levi Buchanan, also writing for "IGN", stated that "while the lack of a true Sonic sequel for the Saturn certainly didn't wholly destroy the console's chances, the lack of appearances by the Sega mascot sure didn't help matters much." Dave Zdyrko, who operated a prominent Saturn fan site, said: "I don't know if ["X-treme"] could've saved the Saturn, but ... "Sonic" helped make the Genesis and it made absolutely no sense why there wasn't a great new "Sonic" title ready at or near the launch of the ".