I don't really know what is exactly but for the mlss one, the color are not dark in this style. Check the tutorial in TSR.
For the other one, it's looks correct.
You credited the first as both ripped and custom. Thats not exactly possible, though the quality clearly points to custom.
Never use the default MS Paint colors, or any tool other than the pencil and fill bucket.
the 2nd and 3rd sheet are nothing like m&l style. The problem between making sprites from one game into another completely different style is figuring out how much of the original appearance is based on style, and how much is based on the actual characters appearance. You preserved far too much of the original style, and added little to none of the requirements of M&L style.