Can't be Golden Axe coz the game cannot buy stuff. It's called Wonder Boy 2 & 3: monster world or something like that. NES version was called Goku(something in japanese, The Monkey God)

To ravemaster:
The game you're refering to is called Shatterhand(in the US) the one you played is in japanese.. the name in japanese I forgot.. it's something in japanese then "super rescue". The US version they remove the robot character you control & replace it with a jacket wearing dude.. also 1 level was replace with a different level.

Cool screenshot... that was one of my favourite NES/Famicom game.

Another weird game in japanese I used to borrow/play, I don't know the title(in japanese) but you control a guy with long hair. You use the long hair(red color I think) as weapon to attack... very weird. Appreciate it if someone can let me know what's the name of the game.

Wah.. your thread so long ago.. still want to discuss.. btw I haven't got a single clue what game you're talking about but did you read my post(earlier) I'm guessing it's Wonderboy I & II SMS, not sure if Megadrive got one.