Possibly Crossed Swords: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H485or8VOC8
Or Sengoku: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZqBgAQak64
Or also possibly Dungeons and Dragons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8alVk4Zi5A0
D&D was by Capcom on the CPS2, a competitor to the Neo Geo.
Re:Neo Geo Programming Guide (1991) [pdf]
by 0xcde4c3db on Saturday April 02, 2016 @01:16PM
(#11412291)
Another Capcom game that fits the general description is The King of Dragons (1991, CPS1 hardware).
I recall playing a side-scrolling arcade RPG put out by Neo-Geo sometime in the late '80s/early '90s. From what I remember there was leveling and different classes of characters ( fighter, mage, etc ). It was something like Golden Axe, but a lot more detailed. Tried to find it later but never had any luck.