Clearing Buckfire's Stage with Model a

Time to take the fight to Buckfire like it’s 1987.

Using “Model a” outside of its dedicated minigame is interesting. The homage to classic Mega Man meshes oddly with ZXA’s mechanics, creating a form that’s ill-suited to fighting bosses but oddly competent at stage traversal. Furthermore, considering that completing ZX’s postgame grants you the venerated Model OX, it’s certainly a tad strange for Model a to be the reward given for the grueling task of collecting all 24 boss medals. Then again, ZXA is a game that absolutely revels in the bizarre, so it’s not entirely out of left field.

Concerning the merits of Model a, the most noteworthy benefit is its comically undersized sprite; its standing hitbox is similar to Hedgeshock’s, if not a bit smaller. Sliding replaces dashing as your method of quick movement; it’s surprisingly fast, allowing for quick escapes from enemy attacks. The slide can be jump canceled as well; however, momentum doesn’t carry into your jumps, which is in accordance with classic Mega Man mechanics. Taking more from the classics, your shots also pass through walls, though that sees no application here. Opposite to its standalone minigame, Model a can wall jump when used in the main game. Arguably, this somewhat breaks the spirit of the homage, but the stages would be completely insurmountable otherwise, so it’s a reasonable concession.

For its offense, Model a is equipped with a simple buster: no charging, 3-shot limit, 1 damage—it’s as elementary as can be. Against bosses, these miniature bullets still grant full invincibility time, so every single fight you attempt with Model a inherently becomes a war of attrition. However, there’s a neat way to greatly bolster its firepower when running through stages, particularly when facing off with bulky enemies. Like Models F and P, Model a can alternate between the main and sub-weapon buttons to cancel shot animations. This allows you to group bullets closely together, and while the 3-shot limit persists, it’s irrelevant at close range. Additionally, the technique is helpful against enemies that are either airborne or occupy higher ground, as you can increase the number of shots you put on target per jump.

Now for the stage itself. The opening set of 4 Galleon Hunters is mere set dressing; they get perforated and chewed through with ease thanks to the rapid-fire trick. They also recoil upon taking damage, which interrupts their attack animations. Not that it matters, since Model a’s lack of height has their shots pass right over your head without concern. Since its movement speed differs from all other forms, wall jumping as Model a can feel a bit stilted, but even so, it’s no issue here, as the only foes awaiting atop climbs are Galleon Bazooka, whose reaction times are worse than that of an anesthetized snail.

Cannonwalkers are quite amusing with Model a. Most players will likely be aware that you can roll under them with Hedgeshock, but with Model a’s stature, you can simply walk and stand underneath them—sliding isn’t even necessary. I choose to bypass the first Cannonwalker rather than engage it, but a bit of luck is required to have it behave while you tear through the random electric barrels behind it. The second one has to be destroyed, owing to the three Bomb Flowers incessantly spewing garbage onto the platform below. There’s no way to navigate the detritus without taking a hit, so disposing of the Cannonwalker before shifting your focus to the Bomb Flowers is mandatory.

The Bomb Flowers are where the bullet-grouping trick shines. Each one takes 6 shots to destroy, which, if relegated to one bullet per jump, would take eons. By quickly pressing both attack buttons in succession at the apex of your jump, you cut the total number of jumps down from 18 to 9, which translates to enormous time savings. It’s even possible to fire 3 bullets per jump, but it’s markedly more difficult for relatively paltry time savings, and putting that much focus into optimal firing hampers your ability to move between the bombs, so I opt for consistency here.

The first half of Buckfire’s fight is laughably easy; the defensive properties of Model a gleam brightly, with its minute hitbox allowing you to stand right next to Buckfire while he repeatedly shoots groups of arrows to no avail. If you can lure him into the center of the cabin, he’ll also spend almost all his time jumping up and down, meaning that a bit of shuffling is all the movement you need.

Past the halfway point, Buckfire’s Double Tomahawk puts an abrupt stop to the fun. His recovery time after using it is almost negligible; he can snipe you with arrows before you land, so there’s no choice but to retreat. This also exposes another problem: Buckfire gets rather dash-happy if you’re not close to him. He can blitz across the majority of the arena without warning, so stay vigilant.

Thanks for watching! I hope you enjoyed this little excursion with Model a.