Ricco Harbor

"Well, this place just gets more and more lively every day!!"

- Pianta

Ricco Harbor is a trading port in Isle Delfino in the game Super Mario Sunshine. Mario can access Ricco Harbor after he has three Shine Sprites and defeats the Polluted Piranha Plant that devoured the Boathouse. A hidden stage is located in this level at the top of Ricco Tower, which can be reached by the surrounding scaffolding. Aside from Delfino Plaza, Ricco Harbor is the only other location on Isle Delfino that has Manholes. Its name "Ricco" is Italian for "rich", so the name translates to "Rich Harbor".

The area is located on the part of Isle Delfino resembles to a fin, west of Delfino Plaza. The harbor has a large port built into the cliff face, where there are several buildings and construction equipment. At the end is a marketplace, where a fish market opens after Episode 6. In the water are several large ships, as well as various yachts and personal vessels that change their positions depending on the selected episode.

In Episode 7, a single Pianta can be seen swimming with a duck ring until Episode 8, which more Piantas appear. Over the water, there is a vast network of catwalks and platforms for unloading and repairing. There is also a warehouse with some wooden crates behind the level access point, as well as boats with defeated Bloopers inside. Mario meets Gooper Blooper for the first time in this level and ultimately encounters it twice: once in the vacant marketplace and again on the helicopter landing pad. The landing pad is also where the Pianta Captain prepares to leave in his private helicopter in Episode 8.

The place also features a Pianta, who will throw Mario various distances depending on the selected episode; as episodes progress, he'll throw Mario further than he did in the last episode. That Pianta also has a younger brother who'll do the same thing to Mario, starting in Episode 5, all the way up to Episode 8.

In Mario Power Tennis, Ricco Harbor is a court which has a gimmick that involves changing the size of the court via hitting panels.

Episode 1: Gooper Blooper Breaks Out
The first episode of this level sets in with a pan shot over the harbor and then focuses on a staple of metal crates at the marketplace. A thick black substance can be seen leaking out of the staple and a white tentacle is idling in front of the crates. Mario has to reach the marketplace first, which is located in the city district of Ricco Harbor. On the way, the player visits a cargo ship covered in Goop and also gets a view of Ricco Tower which is also surrounded with the same Goop. Mario can wash away the substance and reveal hidden signs which give him Blue Coins when sprayed with water. Mario then finds the city district surrounded by polluted water, which is caused by the substance that oozes from the crate staple, flowing into the ocean. The player should jump on the white tentacle and pull it away from the staple, until it rips off. Gooper Blooper will then emerge from the staple and a boss battle begins.

During the battle, Gooper Blooper tries to flatten Mario with his tentacles. Mario has to pull on his snout which is sealed by a cork in order to clear the first half of the battle. However, if the player tries this right from the start, the Blooper will counter-attack with one of his four tentacles, causing Mario to lose his grasp. Therefore the player first has to defeat some of the tentacles by separating them from the Blooper's body. Mario can do this by jumping on the tentacles, flattening them, and then pulling on them until they rip off. Spraying water in the Bloopers face will cause him to attack with all tentacles at once, and the player can make use of that to time their attacks. If Gooper Blooper is down to one or two tentacles, the player can try to pull on his snout, or they can just cut off all the tentacles to be safe. After that, the snout slaps back into Gooper Blooper's face, leading to the second phase of the battle. The second phase plays just as the first one, with the exception that Gooper Blooper's snout is no longer sealed and a ring of black Goop surrounds him. After connecting another attack, the creature rockets into the air and Mario is rewarded with a Shine Sprite.


 * Names in other languages

Episode 2: Blooper Surfing Safari
The introduction scene for the second episode of this level shows a shot of a wooden platform with three Surfing Bloopers on top and then cuts to a tunnel leading to an area under the city district, with black slime oozing out. The player has to turn back from the level access point and move over the log bridge next to some wooden crates. On the floating platform Mario will meet Big Daddy who lends him one of his Surfing Bloopers (the pink being the fastest and green being the slowest). The player should use it to navigate to the source of the pollution and enter the tunnel. This episode's title may be a reference to The Beach Boys song Surfin' Safari.

Under the city, Mario will find Big Daddy again, along with a giant Surfing Blooper race course. The player has to race along the track, watching out for obstacles like floating orange blocks, red spikes pointing out of the water, or yellow colored boards which rotate and block Mario's way. If Mario leaves the water, his Surfing Blooper will significantly slow down, and any contact with a wall or an obstacle causes him to use lose a Life.

Mario can actually receive two Shine Sprites in this episode; the first is earned by doing one lap in under 45 seconds, while the other is earned by doing one lap in under 40 seconds. If Mario fails to accomplish those tasks, he will find himself back at Delfino Plaza. He does not lose a life when this happens.


 * Names in other languages

Episode 3: The Caged Shine Sprite
At the beginning of this episode, the introduction scene shows a view of the girder complex above the harbor and then spirals around the big, yellow-framed cage construction which gives this episode its name. Notable is also that the Goop is completely gone and that Klambers begin to appear all over the level from this episode on. Mario has to move over a ship with a crane that is docked right at the level access point. He then must reach the girder complex by using various cranes with platforms, and climbable girders with Klambers on them. Once he reaches the girder complex, he will get attacked by Wind Duppies and Bloopers which try to throw him off the girders and down into the water. By using special launchpads and probably F.L.U.D.D.'s Rocket Nozzle, Mario can access the big yellow-framed cage from above and collect the Shine Sprite on the inside.


 * Names in other languages

Episode 4: The Secret of Ricco Tower
The introduction scene of this episode shows a shot of Ricco Tower surrounded with black Goop once again, and then cuts to a zoom-in of the opening in the tower's top. Mario has to move to the tower and climb on top of it. He can either do this with the Rocket Nozzle, or he can use Wall Jumps on the bearings around the building to reach the top. From there he can enter Ricco Tower.

Inside Ricco Tower is another secret level. Shadow Mario will show up at the beginning and steal F.L.U.D.D., so Mario has to clear the level solely with his acrobatic skills. The player has to guide Mario over giant rotating chunks of wood, paying close attention to their move pattern in order to avoid falling down into a Bottomless Pit. The wooden pieces change their shapes and sizes the further Mario proceeds through the level. At the end, a Shine Sprite awaits. If Mario re-enters this Episode after having cleared it once, he can take F.L.U.D.D. with him into the level and also participate in a Red Coin challenge.

An almost-exact replica of the secret level is found in Super Mario Galaxy 2, as the Twisty Trials Galaxy.


 * Names in other languages

Episode 5: Gooper Blooper Returns
The scene that plays after accessing the episode shows a shot rotating around the helipad with Gooper Blooper on top. The area below the helipad is once again polluted with black Goop and some Piantas can be seen infuriatingly yelling into the creature's direction. Mario can try to use the Rocket Nozzle to reach the helipad, but he can also talk to a Pianta on one of the metal platforms that were passed during Episode three. The Pianta will throw Mario onto the helipad and right into a battle with Gooper Blooper.

The battle against Gooper Blooper in this episode plays exactly like the fight in the first episode, but the Blooper now sports a new technique, which consists of rapidly moving his tentacles over the place like a giant rotor blade. The attack can be avoided by jumping over the tentacles. The battle then continues normally. The player has to cut off the Blooper's tentacles, pull on his mouth, avoid the ring of black Goop around the enemy and pull on the mouth again. After defeating Gooper Blooper once again, Mario will receive his next Shine Sprite.


 * Names in other languages

Episode 6: Red Coins on the Water
The sixth episode sets in with another shot of the wooden platform that was shown in Episode 2, until the view tilts over the harbor and its various sea vehicles. Big Daddy now has a big collection of Surfing Bloopers and once again he will lend one to Mario in this episode. Before mounting a Surfing Blooper, the player has to press the big red button on the wooden platform to make eight Red Coins appear all over the harbor's water. They then have to use one of the Surfing Bloopers to collect them all within the set time limit. While racing over the surface with high speed, the player has to watch out not to hit an obstacle like a ship while collecting the Coins. If Mario hits an object or runs out of time, he will lose an Extra Life. The Shine Sprite for collecting the set of Red Coins appears above Big Daddy's platform and has to be collected while riding on the Surfing Blooper. Because of this it is still possible to lose even after all the Coins are collected. I the player lands on the umbrella on his platform, they will no longer be riding the Surfing Blooper.

It is possible to best this level without using a Surfing Blooper, especially while using the Turbo Nozzle; however, this way is much more difficult.


 * Names in other languages

Episode 7: Shadow Mario Revisited
This is the Shadow Mario episode of Ricco Harbor, and completing it is necessary to open the gate to Corona Mountain where the final boss lurks. The episode begins with a shot of the ship with the crane, then tilts over to the cargo ship and zooms in on Shadow Mario who stands in front of the ship. Mario has to hunt down the enemy and spray him with water until he gives up. He first flees over the cargo ship and eventually climbs onto the girder complex above the harbor. The player has to watch not to fall off the path while pursuing Shadow Mario. After the enemy goes down, Mario will receive another Shine Sprite.


 * Names in other languages

Episode 8: Yoshi's Fruit Adventure
The introduction scene begins with showing the two big fruit storages made of stone and then pans over to several metal platforms high above the water, with fish jumping between them. The pan shot then comes to a halt over a cage-like construct covered by a slimy Forcefield which has a Shine Sprite inside.

As the title of the episode implies, Mario has to use Yoshi to reach his destination. The Yoshi Egg can be found at the marketplace of the town district where Gooper Blooper was first fought, and the fruits needed to hatch the egg are located inside the two fruit storage buildings nearby. The fruits can be accessed by ground-pounding the two switches atop the buildings. However, the Yoshi Egg demands a Durian, so the player will have to keep pressing the switches until they receive one. This makes getting the Durian to Yoshi a lot more difficult.

Once the player gets the Durian to Yoshi, they then have to use Yoshi's Juice attack which can turn enemies into moving blocks to navigate across the steel platforms. Since Durians turn Yoshi's color to purple, the platforms move horizontilly, making navigation to the first steel platform possible (it is possible, however, to make it with Pink Yoshi, but there is a very big chance the player will miss the platform). Using this, the player can climb up to the caged Shine Sprite and spray the Forcefield with Yoshi's juice to gain access to it. However, Mario cannot get to the Shine Sprite while riding Yoshi, and will have to get off of him in order to collect it, though it is possible to collect it with Yoshi by putting him on the cage door and ground-pounding so that he falls in.

During this episode, the famous Doot-Doot Sisters are present in Ricco Harbor and can be found halfway through the town, surrounded by fans. Additionally, the fish market at the marketplace is shown to flourish again.


 * Names in other languages

Episode 9: Red Coins in Ricco Tower
In this episode, Mario must replay Episode 4, though this time he must enter Ricco Tower and collect eight Red Coins. If he manages to collect them all before the 1:30 time limit is up, a Shine Sprite will be revealed.

Episode 10: Blooper Surfing Sequel
In this episode, Mario must replay Episode 2 in a more difficult situation. If he manages to complete the course in 40 seconds or less, a hidden Shine Sprite will be revealed.

Fruit locations
Besides the two Coconuts on a tree to the very east, all fruit is contained in a fruit tank near the fish market. Mario just needs to Ground Pound one of the tank's switches to obtain one.

Nozzle locations
Nozzle Boxes become available in episode 3 and so on. Ricco Harbor has more nozzle boxes than any other area on Isle Delfino.

Turbo Nozzle

 * At the very beginning of the harbor; Nearby where the Sunglasses Vendor hangs out.
 * Inside the red & black Handysize ship. Only available in episodes 7 and 8.
 * On the roof of the westernmost house.
 * On one of the southwestern girders in the vast construction zone.

Rocket Nozzle

 * On a red steel platform in the southeastern area of the massive construction zone.
 * On another red steel platform in the southwester area of the massive construction zone, just above one of the Turbo Nozzles.
 * Directly underneath the helipad.
 * On the rooftop of a house nearby the marketplace.

Hover Nozzle

 * Behind Ricco Tower.
 * On one of the easternmost girders in the vast construction zone.
 * In the marketplace.

Ships
The array of ships in Ricco Harbor changes as the episodes go by. The ships range from small motor boats to Handysize ships and a Submarine. The number of ships changes from only three in Episode 1 to over a dozen in Episode 6. However, four ships always are in port:
 * A Handysize container ship directly in front of the starting point. It is red and black, and appears to be under repair, as there is caging around it that resembles a dry dock.
 * Another Handysize ship, it is located to the right of the starting point. This ship appears to be a bulk carrier, because it has its own crane, and it has several steel beams and pipes as its cargo. It is blue and white.
 * A very small yellow submarine (a possible reference to the Beatles) that is anchored in the middle of the port. This submarine is totally submerged in the first level, and the player can earn a Blue Coin for raising it completely. Hero may be its captain.
 * A small size cruise ship type of recreational Yacht between in the middle of entrance to the port.

Official description
''Isle Delfino's port city is home to boats of all sizes and a thriving tourist trade. The fish market has the freshest seafood for miles around.''

Music
Ricco Harbor shares the musical theme of Gelato Beach, Delfino Plaza, and Bianco Hills, but in a jazz style, with prominent saxophone and electric guitar instrumentation. It was written by Koji Kondo.

The level's theme music is an unlockable element in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Trivia

 * Ricco Harbor makes a cameo in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where it can be seen from the Delfino Plaza stage.
 * Ricco Harbor is referenced by the character Gulliver, in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
 * Episode 8, "Yoshi's Fruit Adventure," is the only point in the game where a durian is the required fruit to get Yoshi to hatch from his egg, and thus resulting in a Purple Yoshi hatching.