Extract text from Nintendo game archives (SZS)
To convert SZS game archives to another format, you need Wiimms SZS Tools or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Yaz0 Compressed Archive" file type, you need software like Wiimms SZS Tools or a similar tool.
A .SZS file is a proprietary game data archive used extensively by Nintendo across multiple console generations, including the GameCube, Wii, and Nintendo Switch. It acts as a container to store 3D models, textures, animations, level layouts, and other essential game assets. These files rely on a specific compression algorithm known as Yaz0. Modders frequently interact with .SZS files when creating custom tracks for games like Mario Kart. To open or extract these files, users must rely on community-developed homebrew software such as Wiimms SZS Tools or Switch Toolbox, as official development tools are not publicly available.
The main disadvantage of the .SZS format is its heavily closed and proprietary nature. Standard operating systems cannot read them natively. They are essentially black boxes designed exclusively to be parsed by Nintendo hardware. Because they use the proprietary Yaz0 compression scheme, standard archive utilities like 7-Zip or WinRAR will completely fail to open them, throwing error messages about unsupported or corrupted archives.
When working with .SZS files, the primary goal is extraction rather than direct conversion. The best approach is to unpack the archive into a standard ZIP folder. Once decompressed, you will often find console-specific formats like BRRES (Wii) or BFRES (Switch). These internal files can then be converted to standard 3D formats like OBJ or DAE, and the textures exported to PNG.
Because this is a highly specialized console format, standard online converters fail to process it.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SZS file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted BRRES, JPG, ZIP, PMX, PNG, MP3, MII, SDW and UPS files.
If you want to convert SZS file to EXE, ISO, BIN, CUE, PAK, WAD, PK3, PK4, BSP, MAP, SAV or DAT, you can use Wiimms SZS Tools or similar software from the "Compressed Game Data Archive" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MOD, BIN, CFG, SCX, DAT, MPQ, LOG, CUE, INI, EXE, SCM or ISO files to SZS, try Wiimms SZS Tools or another comparable tool in the "Compressed Game Data Archive" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our SZS converter.