Extract text from SZS files
To convert your SZS file to another format, you need Wiimms SZS Tools or other Game software.
To convert other file formats to the "Compressed Game Archive" file type, you need software like Wiimms SZS Tools or a similar tool.
The .SZS file type is a compressed game archive used extensively by Nintendo across consoles like the Wii, GameCube, and Nintendo Switch. It acts as a container - similar to a ZIP file - that holds game assets including 3D models, textures, track layouts, and collision data. These files are typically compressed using the Yaz0 or Yay0 algorithms, making them unreadable to standard operating systems and generic unzipping tools like WinZip or 7-Zip.
Gamers and modders frequently need to convert .SZS files to extract character models, race tracks, or music for editing and research. Because the format is a proprietary "black box," users face friction when trying to view the contents without specialized command-line utilities. For 3D editing in software like Blender, users should convert the internal model data to OBJ or DAE. For texture editing in Adobe Photoshop, the internal images should be extracted and converted to PNG or TGA. For modding purposes, the file is often decompressed into a U8 or .RARC archive, edited, and then re-compressed back to .SZS for use on the console or emulators like Dolphin.
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.
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.