One year after the publication of Grow Home, here is back in our hands the continuation of the adventures of the odd and tireless little robot gardener BUD (Botanical Utility Droid)! The first chapter has been so successful among users that Ubisoft wanted to bet once again on this title with simple and effective gameplay and with a truly unique and relaxing style, announcing this new Grow Up at E3 in Los Angeles. The plot of the title is very minimalist and in fact it is absolutely not one of the cornerstones on which the game is based, but it is simply an outline to allow us to understand the purpose of our adventure. In fact, at the beginning of our story spaceship, MOM, is destroyed in an asteroid storm and the pieces, together with our hero, are thrown onto a planet rich in species of flora and fauna and it will be up to us to recompose the spacecraft on the moon in order to continue our journey. 
Plants like in the first Grow Home will be the key part of the gameplay title: our friend In fact, BUD has a very good green thumb and with our powerful Floradex we will be able to scan all the species of flora that we will encounter in order to be able to reuse them in the course of our exploration. We have plants of all kinds, from trampoline-mushrooms, to lianas, cacti, palm trees, water lilies, each with its specific utility in our platforming. Obviously, even the classic climbing of the first chapter returns to make itself felt but we will use it a lot only in the first periods of the game as during our wanderings we will find upgrades for our robot that will allow us to "move more comfortably": Jetpack, hang gliding, we can even transform ourselves into a sphere (Metroid teaches)! In short, in the second part of our adventure we will spend a lot of time a fly and to admire the spectacle offered by the Ubisoft level designers who, as in Grow Home, have created a really fantastic glance. The ever-changing landscapes thanks to a variety of biomes, especially when viewed from above, create glimpses truly worthy of being photographed. The minimalist graphics of the title then are perfectly apt for the type of game, a platformer that can offer a decent level of challenge in some points (especially at the beginning) and suitable for all audiences.
The frame rate on console (we tested it on Xbox One) it is stable and despite all the textures to be rendered, the title really offers a beautiful sight for the eyes thanks to the Unity Engine. Unfortunately, the problems of the first chapter of the woodiness of some animations remain (the latter being procedural), which will often lead our little red friend to skidding or even bugging oneself while maybe we are in the middle of a very long climb that there will have to start over not always our fault. Also noteworthy is the imbalance of some skills or plants, which at a certain point in the game make the other mechanics superfluous. By alternating for example the Jetpack with the hang glider we can in fact virtually fly endlessly without ever having to land, or the plant that generates spheres that also allow us to fly vertically to reach places that otherwise we would have to climb with great commitment. In short, if you want to enjoy the game in its fullness you can choose the classic long and difficult climb (with the relative risks of falling), while if you just want to enjoy the breathtaking panoramic views that Grow Up can offer, then you can use the aforementioned "shortcuts". Unfortunately the famous Star Plants, huge plants that grow out of all proportion as we give them energy and that allow us to reach disproportionate heights, they lose their meaning in the course of the adventure, remaining simply aesthetic decorations.
Il level design of Grow Up however, it resumes and even surpasses that of its predecessor by offering us a well-structured game world: at the beginning of our journey we will explore it more horizontally, but as we continue in the hunt for pieces of MOM our hero will move 360 ° reaching heights of three kilometers and beyond, stuff to make the various Altair and Ezio dizzy. The feeling we get from looking at the world from top to bottom is truly priceless and delivers a visual experience like few titles are able to do. As for the sound sector, the title takes up the minimalist style, with a relaxing soundtrack but which in the long run, being always the same, can seem repetitive. The environmental sound effects instead are well made, both of the plants but also of the waterfalls for example, of the rumble in the caves and more. Our protagonist as in the previous game will not speak but will still emit nice sounds during the course of our explorations. The game in its "main quest", that is to find the 10 pieces of MOM scattered around the alien planet, it has a fairly decent longevity but that is reduced if we hurry to unlock the "shortcut" skills mentioned above. However there are 150 scattered and hidden crystals to collect around the game world that will allow us to enhance the battery reserve of our BUD and we will have also 40 timed stunt challenges (somewhat difficult) that will unlock new costumes for our funny and wacky droid.
A definitely improved feature compared to the first chapter is free exploration and above all the way to do it that Grow Up offers us, practically leaving us an open world that we can visit as we want. In fact, there is no order to collect the pieces or to unlock the skills, it is simply up to us to choose step by step our next destination and the means by which to get there. Ubisoft therefore reconfirms itself once again as a large company that also wants to give space to small developers who want to propose their idea on the market (as it had already done with Child of Light or Valiant Hearts) and succeeds with flying colors with this Grow Up, a simple and relaxing platform title, which will surely be able to snatch you a few hours of healthy and pure fun!
