Arcus Odyssey (Full Gameplay Video)
I play as cool whip lady, because when confronted with evil, whips are the best solution.
Arcus Odyssey is a Megadrive/SNES game in which you can play as 1 (or 2 player) of 4 different characters. There's a Sword Man, aforementioned Whip Lady, Bow Girl, and Old Wizard Man. They have actual names, but I can't remember them. Evil was sealed in a sword, but now its breaking out because bad guys stole the sword. You do this by going through various stages, collecting items and occasionally teaming up with someone else. After defeating a boss, you can choose to upgrade your weapon (red) or health (blue) by grabbing a gem.
It's a pretty fun game and I recommend playing through it at least once!
This playthrough is the Megadrive version of the game. I'm not sure how much the SNES version differs, yet.