I still remember the first time I played Bingo&JP - that moment when I realized this wasn't just another puzzle platformer. The game starts conventionally enough, with you controlling Mario through colorful stages, but then comes the twist that completely changes everything. Around the halfway mark, everything flips upside down when you get your first mini companion. Suddenly, it's not just about your own platforming skills anymore - you've got this little guy following your every move, and his automatic behaviors become the central puzzle you need to solve.
What makes Bingo&JP so brilliantly challenging is how it transforms from a traditional platformer into what I like to call a "companion management simulator." I spent what felt like hours on one particular stage where my mini kept jumping at the worst possible moments. He'd see a coin floating just above a pit of spikes and automatically leap toward it, completely ignoring the danger. I had to learn to position myself in ways that would block his line of sight to tempting but dangerous collectibles while still progressing through the level. It's this beautiful dance between your intentional movements and your mini's predictable but often inconvenient reactions.
The learning curve is surprisingly steep but incredibly rewarding. During my first playthrough, I probably died about 50 times in the first companion stage alone. There's this one section I'll never forget - you need to navigate across moving platforms while your mini tries to mimic your jumps with a slight delay. If you jump too quickly, he'll miss the platform and fall. Too slowly, and you both get crushed by the descending ceiling. It took me 27 attempts to get the timing just right, but when we finally made it across together, the satisfaction was absolutely worth the struggle.
What really sets Bingo&JP apart from other games in the genre is how it makes you think differently about familiar elements. In traditional platformers, you master the environment. Here, you master the relationship between yourself and your companion. I found myself developing what I call "companion awareness" - that moment when you stop thinking about obstacles in terms of how you'll overcome them, but rather how both of you will navigate them together. There's this brilliant stage where you have to lead your mini through a maze of disappearing blocks, and you need to remember that he follows your exact path with a two-second delay. Planning your route becomes this fascinating temporal puzzle where you're essentially solving the present for yourself and the future for your companion.
Then come the Expert stages - oh boy, these are where the game truly shows its teeth. I consider myself a pretty skilled gamer, having completed dozens of challenging platformers, but Bingo&JP's Expert stages had me questioning my abilities. The first Expert stage alone took me three hours to complete, and I'm not ashamed to admit I almost threw my controller at the wall a few times. These stages combine precision platforming with companion management in ways that feel downright diabolical at times. There's one particular section that requires you to perform a perfectly timed wall jump while your mini is mirroring your movements from below, and you need to account for how his automatic jump will interact with the moving platforms. It's the kind of challenge that makes you stand up and cheer when you finally nail it.
What I love most about these Expert stages is how they constantly introduce new companion behaviors that force you to adapt your strategy. Just when you think you've mastered one type of mini companion, the game introduces another with slightly different automatic actions. There's this yellow mini that collects coins automatically but ignores enemies, and a blue one that attacks enemies but won't collect coins unless you specifically guide him to them. Managing these different behaviors while navigating increasingly complex stages creates this wonderfully deep gameplay experience that just keeps giving.
The beauty of Bingo&JP lies in how it transforms frustration into triumph. I remember this one particularly nasty puzzle where I had to lead my mini across a series of platforms that would collapse after being touched. The solution required me to take a longer, more dangerous route myself while creating a safe path for my companion. When I finally figured it out after what felt like a hundred attempts, the solution seemed so obvious in hindsight. That's the magic of this game - it teaches you to think in ways you never considered before.
Having completed all the main stages and about half of the Expert levels, I can confidently say that Bingo&JP offers one of the most unique and satisfying puzzle-platforming experiences I've encountered in recent years. The game demands patience, observation, and creative problem-solving in equal measure. While the difficulty might scare off some casual players, those who stick with it will discover one of the most innovative takes on the platforming genre since the original Portal redefined puzzle games. If you're looking for a challenge that will test both your reflexes and your brain, this is absolutely worth your time - just be prepared to die a lot before everything clicks into place.
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