Mortal Kombat is an arcade fighting game developed and published by Midway in 1992. It is the first entry in the Mortal Kombat series and subsequently was released by Acclaim Entertainment for nearly every home platform of the time. The game focuses on several characters of various intentions who enter a martial arts tournament with worldly consequences. It introduced many key aspects of the Mortal Kombat series, including the unique five-button control scheme and gory finishing moves called Fatalities. Mortal Kombat is considered one of the greatest video games of all time by critics and audiences in 21st century and became a best-selling game and remains one of the most popular fighting games in the genre's history, spawning numerous sequels and spin-offs over the following years and decades, beginning with Mortal Kombat II in 1993, and together with the first sequel was the subject of a successful film adaptation in 1995. However, it also sparked much controversy for its depiction of extreme violence and gore using realistic digitized graphics, and, along with the home release of Night Trap, prompted the formation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a U.S. government-backed organization that set descriptor ratings for video games. The game takes place in Earthrealm, where a tournament is being held on Shang Tsung's Island, on which seven of its locations serve as stages in the game. The introduction to Mortal Kombat explains that Shang Tsung was banished to Earthrealm 500 years previously and, with the help of the monstrous Goro, is able to seize control of the Mortal Kombat tournament in an attempt to doom the realm.[5] For 500 years straight, Goro has been undefeated in the tournament, and won nine consecutive tournaments. If Goro wins again Shao Kahn, Emperor of Outworld, will be allowed to take Earthrealm. In order to prevent this, a new generation of warriors must challenge Goro. The player receives information about the characters in biographies displayed during the attract mode. The bulk of the game's backstory and lore was only told in a comic book,[6] but some additional information about the characters and their motivations for entering the tournament is received upon completion of the game with each character.