What is and isn't good is a matter of opinion. If he likes better games then good for him. Brawl is my favorite competitive game. It's just my opinion that everyone has their own right to.
"Good" is a matter of opinion, but I was talking about "competitive."
The term "competitive" has a certain definition, and Melee is provably more competitive than Brawl. It has a much steeper learning curve. It has more ATs, which are harder to perform and more important to the metagame. It has a higher skill cap, and a wider skill gap between low and high-level play. It has more consistent tourney results. Each (tourney-viable) character has a large variety of effective playstyles, and creativity and intelligent aggression are rewarded much moreso than in Brawl.
But competitive =/= fun or good. If you have more fun with Brawl than Melee, that's fine. Some people don't like a more difficult game, and like to have more of a chance against the pros. There was a time where I liked Brawl a lot more than Melee, because I could actually keep up with players who ***** my **** in Melee. I prefer Brawl+ because it's easier to play than Melee but more challenging and faster-paced than Brawl, and the cast is better balanced so there's much more character variety in tourneys. But I'm not gonna kid myself and pretend it's a more competitive game than Melee.