I'm gonna start the second one tonight, then pick up Peace Walker and Rising when I'm done with 3. I prefer Melee as well, mainly because I'm so good with Mewtwo and none of the Brawl characters had his charm for me.
Ah yeah, quite a useful ability there. Had it on my Galvantula in White, making Thunder pretty awesome. Box Chevy lost the ability upon evolving, but he did get Tinted Lens which helps too.