Only bother buying if you love High School Musical and its songs. Doesn't feel as if much time has been spent on it.
I completed this game in a day or two as I had got a lot of practice from another DS game - Elite Beat Agents. In a nutshell, HSM: Makin' the Cut is a very easy game, with quite poor graphics, poorly adapted ideas... however I still enjoyed it a lot as it featured all the songs from the first High School Musical, and two from High School Musical 2. The sound quality is very good so you can make the most of the songs, although as previously mentioned the graphics are fairly poor considering other DS games manage nice graphics - the characters look nothing like the actors, it looks quite cheaply done.
The poorly adapted ideas I mentioned include a little microgame that pops up throughout the songs where you must trace a letter, but as someone else mentioned on a review, it feels broken. There is also a "camera mode" where apparently you can "shoot your own music videos", however all I can say is it is rubbish, and also feels broken. Also not all the beats seem to be in rhythm with the songs.
Most of what I've said is negative, bust I've still given it a 7. This is because even when I completed the game I still occasionally go back to play the game, as I love the songs - most games I just never play again. Basically this game is perfect for a High School Musical lover, but if you are simply looking for a good music/beat game then DEFINITELY get Elite Beat Agents as it is much superior in quality and has many more songs, is more challenging and will have to playing for longer.