Extreme also features longtime sports broadcaster Marv Albert doing commentary instead of original commentator Tim Kitzrow.

[6] As part of a joint promotion with Nestlé, contest labels were printed on the inside of the wrappers for Nestlé brand candy bars, with the grand prize being a personalized copy of NBA Jam Extreme including the contest winner in digitized form as a playable character.

[7] Reviewing the arcade version, a Next Generation reviewer commented, "It may be debated whether an expanded roster (including six players per team/160-plus NBA players), updated graphics (123,000 texture-mapped polygons per second in a full 3D environment), or additional features (an extreme button and the 'alley-oop' play) improve the actual gameplay from the previous Jam incarnations.

In GameSpot, Matt Rubenstein wrote that the graphics compared favorably to those in Midway's NBA Hangtime and also praised the large number of hidden features.

[3] GamePro's The Rookie was also pleased with the PlayStation version's graphics, as well as the retention of the features from the original NBA Jam.

He criticized the controls and held that the game is not as fun as NBA Hangtime, but considered it good in absolute terms.

[12] Josh Smith heavily criticized the Saturn version's visuals as "blurry and unclear, choppy and awkwardly animated" and said that they hampered gameplay.