SQ2 is only “hard” because of all the inane unwinnable situations it puts you in. Didn’t help an alien at the beginning of the game? His friends are going to murder right near the end. Forget to search your locker at the second screen of the game? Unwinnable. That’s not even mentioning the long pixel walking maze the game makes you do twice.

SQ3 was actually fun and fair. I don’t remember a way to make the game unwinnable, it let you backtrack to get items or mercy killed you on the spot.