Yep, this was the golden age of ethical games journalism that 
gaters yearn for. This was the era where there were centerfold-style ads that didn't show the fucking game but showed a sweaty naked woman with the game's logo printed on her body. This was the era that said Rise of the Robots was GAME OF THE YEAR before anyone fucking played it.
One neat thing a game that recently paid homage to shareware with was the source port of Diablo - DevilutionX, it lets you play the shareware copy complete with multiplayer and I thought that was a really cool touch.