One of the best Mario games. Everyone talks about the art and the music but nobody talks about the mechanics! It's so much fun to have to negotiate around the intricacies of how every enemy interacts with Yoshi's eggs & his various states. The physics are also to die for- that level with the spinning logs where you can launch yourself into the air? And they give your flutter jump the boost that you get from landing on an enemy? Just brilliant. So much control is given to the player via slightly obtuse moves and controls, which allows for a lot more evolution in play style & therefore expression of player skill than you would usually see in a Mario game. Just a great time from start to finish.
My only gripe with the game is the method for unlocking the bonus levels in each world. Having to find every red coin is a slog. I think needing to get 90 points per level (or 700/800 or whatever threshold that isn't all-level perfection) would have been a much better choice and allowed more lenient routing for some of the more labyrinthine levels.

Glad I finally got around to beating this one.