Occasionally here at Player2.net.au, we will play something that deserves your attention but probably doesn’t need a full review written for it. Be it DLC for the latest AAA title, a little indie game or even an Android/iOS title. We play these titles for a blockbusting amount of time (2 – 5 hours) and report back to you the reader on what we found. So grab your popcorn and settle in for the latest episode of Blockbuster Gaming.
Blockbuster Gaming – Grow Up
Let me tell you a story about BUD. BUD is a simple robot with barely any capacity for free thought. Sadly BUD is barely even able to control his own movements. BUD has a habit of getting stuck in strange locations and his only method of escaping these situations is to grow plants and climb them, despite more obvious and logical solutions to his problem. What make’s this worse is BUD isn’t even a very good climber. BUD is essentially useless and that is what makes him such a cool dude to hang with.
Grow Up is the second game to feature BUD and just like the first title (Grow Home) it is a physics based platformer with an excess of charm. The goal of the game is to help BUD reach the moon, this is achieved by climbing massive Star Plants, growing different boosting flora and gliding between platforms. The catch here is BUD isn’t exactly the most agile robot, in fact, he is downright difficult to keep pointed in a straight line. The thing is that is a big part of what makes Grow Up so much fun. Keeping BUD moving in the desired direction is an enjoyable challenge and once his momentum has built up it is joyfully chaotic. Falling from high ledges, running into water and smacking face first into a wall are all common occurrences but they were in no way frustrating or annoying. They were just part and parcel of controlling this ever happy android.
BUD’s new trick in this outing is the ability to scan the DNA of native plants and regrow them on command. This adds a new level of puzzle solving into the mix and quite often gives multiple solutions to any particular problem. Some plants shot BUD into the sky on a jet of air, some allow him to bounce and others just make handy platforms. All this choice allows for quite a bit of freedom in how BUD gets around and makes each time the player picks up the controller a unique experience. Add to this BUD’s entertaining climbing ability, in which players use the left and right triggers to simulate BUD’s left and right hand, and you have a game that is unlike anything else on the market.
Grown Up is an inventive experience that was clearly made by a passionate team of developers. The simple fact is there is nothing else like this in the market and that alone deserves praise. But individuality is nothing without entertainment and Grown Up has that in spades. It won’t be a game that will keep people entertained forever but it will give players a highly enjoyable 4-6 hours of gameplay. With such a different spin on platforming and a super low price point, there is really no excuse not to add BUD to your gaming collection.
Matt Hewson
