A walkthrough for The River Side Story in Pikmin 3 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch. This guide will show tips and strategy for getting a platinum medal in this mission, as well as how to unlock The River, the third mission in Olimar's Assignment.

The River General Info

Mission Info

How to Unlock The River

Unlocked by earning a Bronze Medal or better in Inside Forest

The River is unlocked by earning a Bronze Medal or higher in Inside Forest, the previous Side Story Mission. If you take out all of the enemies and recover several pieces of fruit and treasure, you should have no problem earning a Bronze Medal. Be sure to split up your leaders so that one takes the Blue Pikmin underwater to collect fruit there.

Inside Forest Platinum Medal Walkthrough and How to Unlock

The River Walkthrough

The River Key Points
Explore the land and underwater with different leaders Have Yellow Pikmin break the Electric Gate Don't forget the buried fruit Explore every bit of the underwater area

Explore the land and underwater with different leaders

The River is divided into the land portion, as well as the underwater section. It's best to have both Olimar and Louie covering a different section. It goes without saying at this point, but the leader exploring the underwater areas should only bring Blue Pikmin with them.

When one leader's Pikmin are focused on carrying fruit, breaking a gate, etc., it is a good time to switch over to the other leader.

Blue Pikmin Abilities and Where to Find

Have Yellow Pikmin break the Electric Gate

There will be an electric gate blocking off a lot of the area. Blue and Red Pikmin cannot withstand the shock, so instead use the Yellow Pikmin, who are immune to electricity. With only a few yellow pikmin, it will take awhile to open it up, but opening that path up is a must.

Speaking of Yellow Pikmin, you'll definitely want to use them against the Bearded Amprats in this stage as well!

Yellow Pikmin Abilities and Where to Find

Don't forget the buried fruit

There is fruit that is buried in the dirt in this stage. It's very easy to miss, so be on the lookout for it while exploring the land. Yellow Pikmin are very quick diggers, so have them or your other pikmin dig up the fruit and bring it to the S.S. Drake.

Explore every bit of the underwater area

There is a lot of underwater fruit. It can be difficult to see everything underwater, so be sure and move the pointer around a lot, and if it locks on to anything, you may have found fruit. Watch out for the underwater enemies as well. Most of them are easily taken out by using a charge attack from behind.

You can always check the map with the KopPad to see where fruit is. When there is no visible fruit nearby, open the map and plan your next move!

All Side Stories

How to Unlock Side Stories

Olimar's Assignment
Flower Garden	Inside Forest
The River	Tundra
Olimar's Comeback
Pikmin Reunion	Creature Hunting
Land, Sea, and Sky	First Part Found
Team Monster Hunt	Channel Gone Dry
Looking for Louie	Big Fruit Carnival
Another Part Found	The Ship Restored